Monday, June 30, 2014

Whimsy and Zen - Day 30

It's our end of financial year today, being 30th June and me being in finance am so busy at work finalising the entries in the general ledger.  I started on this piece last night and finished it after midnight so it fits in with creating for today.  I also started on another piece, another dotle which I may or may not post tonight, depends if I finish in time.

Because I'm in the southern hemisphere, I actually started on these challenges a day earlier, but I most likely will post tomorrow, our 1st July, just to make sure I am covered :)

so without further adu here it is. 

Remember, if you have some time pay Whimsy and Zen a visit to see what others have posted.  Thank you and have a good day/night.




Sunday, June 29, 2014

Whimsy and Zen - Day 29 - take 3 tiles

Day 29 - nearing the end of create each day in June with Kelly from Whimsy and Zen.  I spent my Sunday afternoon working on 3 tiles.

First I lay them side by side and then randomly dotted with a teal bingo marker on the three tiles and then added various tangles. 


and here they are separately





I hope you've had a lovely weekend.  Back to work tomorrow, ready for a hectic end of financial year preparations.  

Thanks for your visit - come again soon  :)

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Whimsy and Zen - Day 28 - colour and shading

Mission for today - add colour to yesterday's creation.

Here is a pic of it in Black and White, in colour (used Copic Markers) and colour plus shading.  I am attracted to the middle, without shading, however in real the shaded is the same colour as the unshaded one.  It got overcast when I took the pic of the shaded one so the colour has taken on a bluey effect.
 http://whimsyandzen.blogspot.com.au/



Friday, June 27, 2014

Whimsy and Zen - Day 27

I was so tired last night that I fell asleep before posting this.  As usual I started drawing this in my lunchbreak and drew the rest last night.  I did want to shade it or add colour but I fell asleep.  The next thing I saw, it was 4 minutes to midnight so I decided I would post in the morning.
As I didn't get around to shading, I added some digital visual effects - I will however, do something else to it today.
This is part of creating each day in June with Kelly at http://whimsyandzen.blogspot.com.au/

Have a lovely weekend :)


Thursday, June 26, 2014

Day 26 - Whimsy and Zen

I didn't think I'd have time to finish this today, however I did manage to do most of it at lunchtime.  I filled some areas with a gold colour and added some stipple and shading - easy peasy :)  I am happy with it.

This has been a busy month being year end but I have created every single day for the month long challenge with Kelly.  Four more days to go! :)

Thanks for coming - I hope your week is travelling well


Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Day 25 and Tackle it Tuesday - P

I saw a post by Cheryl Rotnem from artfulcreations and it reminded me that I hadn't played for several weeks.  We are up to tangles beginning with the letter 'P' - the last time that I participated was for the letter 'I'!!!

There are lots of fantastic 'P' tangles.  I went for:

Paizel by Angie Vangalis  CZT

Palvero by  Karry Heun

Pokeleaf and Purk by Zentangle ®

Thanks for coming - please say hi :)

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Weekly Challenge #173: Redux, Remix, Revisit Your Comfort Tangle

This week our challenge is to revisit our comfort tangles.  I have several go to tangles, I especially love Nzeppel and Florez, however I decide to try 2 others that I absolutely love, but have never put them together (I'm quite sure I haven't).

Here is my tile using Bunzo by Zentangle ® and Mi2 by Mimi Lempart CZT

I usually draw my Bunzo differently, this time I made them plumper than my usual style, combined it with Mi2 on one of those gorgeous renaissance tiles.  I used black, brown micron pen, shaded with pencil and added highlights with a white pencil.

I enjoyed doing this one, hope to do some more, time permitting.

Thanks for your visits and kind comments - much appreciated.

Oh almost forgot - am entering this as my day 24 create each day in June :)






Monday, June 23, 2014

Day 23 - It's a String Thing

I haven't participated in 'It's a String Thing with Adele Bruno from tickled to tangle in a few weeks.

We are to use String # 108 and patterns starting with 'D'

They include:
Diva Dance
and
Dex - official Zentangle® patterns Demi by Genevieve Crabe Diamonds & Squares by Deanne Stewart-Mills Dooledo by Ksenija Vojisavlijevic

I'm including this tile in create each day in June challenge with Kelly Barone from Whimsy and Zen.


Sunday, June 22, 2014

Sunday's Tangles

It's been a while since I've tangled in red, thought it was about time :)  I tried Emily Classon's YAH- really not sure how to do it - looked simple enough but I struggled with it.  I've also used my very first tangle 'Offerings' (still special to me).

I've noticed recently Kelly from Whimsy and Zen has been including prompts for the 'create each day in June challenge'.  I have to say I have not been following these prompts, partly because I didn't realise we were to follow the prompts and the other reason is because I am one day in front, so in my mind I know that I must create, the thing is I don't find out what until I post and by then its too late.  In other words I don't know what tomorrows prompt is until the Northern Hemisphere's tomorrow, which is my day after tomorrow - make sense? haha  I think you're starting to get my drift :)




 
The other tile is a Renaissance tile using tangles Aura-Leah and the new tangle by Alic Hendon named dutch diamonds




Saturday, June 21, 2014

Paris' 4th Birthday

Today we celebrated my grand-daughter's 4th birthday - my oh my 4 already! time flies doesn't it?

She had her party at Playmaze with several of her friends and cousins and then we all went back to my son's place for a barbeque lunch - we had a lovely day.  Paris was very excited, been waiting for this day to arrive.  Here are some pics - its do hard to get a decent photo of her, always on the go and she will only look at the camera IF she feels like it :)  she so looks like her dad, my twin son.

Oh, I did manage to make her a birthday card and I did a quick tangle tonight - just in time for day 21 - create each day in June with Kelly from Whimsy and Zen.

her card










her present from me

tonights tangle - in blue gel pen, coloured with stampin up watercolour pencil (blue) and then blended with a blender pen.


Friday, June 20, 2014

New Pattern - Verity

I was on the phone at work, pen and paper in hand as usual, just doodling, when I noticed a pattern appearing.  Now I've doodled loopy crosses for years, but this time I coloured in the middle area which made it look very different and it caught my eye.  I decided then I would do a step out.

Please let me know if you've come across a pattern like this - I've not come across one like this, but with so many patterns out there you just never know.

I was toying with names and decided on Verity, meaning truth.

It's very basic and simple, with many possible variation fills.  I do hope you give it a try and I would love to see it.




Thursday, June 19, 2014

Weekly Challenge #172: Duotangle - Auraknot vs Mooka

For my 2nd entry I wanted to try an angled Mooka - not sure if this qualifies.  Usually, I like to mix straight lines with curves or circles.  This time I'm doing all straight lines.  I added some shiny black beads for interest.  It's drawn on grey paper.

here it is





and here, I added a digital special effect for the background.


Day 19 - Whimsy and Zen

Nothing in particular - my piece of artwork for today :)


Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Day 18 - create each day in June - Owl - Ben Kwok template

I don't get much time to play with Ben's templates and this time I was determined to do another.  Its on gold cardstock, coloured with Prismacolours.  I finished it tonight so this is my entry for Kelly over at whimsyandzen


Weekly Challenge #172: Duotangle - Auraknot vs Mooka

Not too happy with this entry - The Diva challenged us to use 'Auraknot with Mooka'.  I probably wouldn't use these two combinations and I'm actually not a big fan of Mooka either (think cause I can't do it) haha
Lots of white space here - this is A4 in size and I think I should have just drawn on a tile.  I wanted to use a larger size paper knowing that Mooka needed space but I really should have made them plump - it didn't pan out that way - whaddya do :)  I think I will add some background tangles at a later date.  thank you for stopping by.


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Day 17 - Whimsy and Zen

My creation for today is the Weekly Diva Challenge Weekly Challenge #172: Duotangle - Auraknot vs Mooka

This is a strange mix indeed.  I will add some shading but I'm rushing to post this before midnight which is 10 minutes away :)


Monday, June 16, 2014

Tangled Bleached Hearts

It's Monday and I have a day off - Yippee!! time for tangling.

In my stash of goodies I found some burgundy cardstock (A4in size) that I had stamped with bleach several years ago, so I decided to incorporate some tangles by adding some simple flowers and swirls.  I used a gold metallic uniball signo pen.  I don't have anything in mind at the moment but I do plan on using it at some stage - I will probably make it into cards.





 Here is a close up of the bleached hearts.



Thanks for your visit - have a lovely day/night

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Day 15 Whimsy and Zen

Here is my tile as part of the 'Wacky Zentangle Weekly Challenge Facebook Group'

It's very rushed as I'm pushing for time.  I've been out all day catching up with my cousins in Sydney  - we are the planning committee for our family reunion coming up in November this year.

this weeks challenge is zentangle the sun

I wasn't happy with the colouring so I added special radiance effects




Saturday, June 14, 2014

Marinated Eggplant - a pictorial

Hi Everyone

Today I'm going to post something a little different to my usual tangles. ( I wonder if this counts as 'create something each day in June for the Whimsy and Zen challenge with Kelly').  I better do a tangle just in case.

Please continue to read for the recipe and method.



First I'd like to say it's going to be a long post - I hope you stay with me :)

Okay, so I saw Eggplants at the green grocers at a really good price, so I figured I'd buy some to make Marinated Eggplant (I have made this before) and decided I'd take some pics along the way.

Now is probably a good time to let you know the ingredients 

You will need

  • Eggplants or Aubergines (I used 4 medium sized)
  • Olive Oil (about 1 cup)
  • Balsamic Vinegar (about 1 cup -I used the dark as that's what I had in my pantry, but white is good too)
  • Garlic (I used a whole thingy majiggy - crushed)
  • Parsley - fresh (about 1 cup roughly chopped)
  • Dried Oregano ( roughly 1 teaspoon)
  • Dried Basil (roughly 1 teaspoon)
  • Salt - for sprinkling 
you will also need some paper towelling, a garlic crusher and a large glass jar or container.

Marinated Eggplant tastes yummy in a sandwich or bread roll with some Salami, Cheese, Mushrooms, Tomatoes - anything really - or just like that with some Crackers and Cheese.  anyway will do :)



Start slicing your washed and dried Eggplants (not too thick, not too thin)



Lay them out on paper towelling and sprinkle with salt (this is supposed to bring out the bitterness of the eggplant)



Close up of beading from the salt



Start to heat your pan with a splash of Olive Oil - (a ribbed Griddle is great but mine is in storage ;-)


After sprinkling with Salt and you get the beading, turn slices over and sprinkle with some more Salt.

Then soak up the moisture with Paper Towel



Your pan should be nice and hot now - add slices of Eggplant and cook for a short time only, you don't want to cook the Eggplant or else they will get too soft and mushy (I think about a minute on each side will do and don't worry if they still look raw as they will soften)


Do them in batches and place in a paper lined dish



Now for the marinade






In a bowl mix, Oil, Vinegar, Dried Herbs, crushed Garlic and chopped Parsley..... mmm mmm almost there now :)


Take each slice and dip in marinade and start laying them in a jar - wait to cool completely before storing in the refrigerator (it keeps for several weeks)








And wallah!! all done (of course I had to try it - it is best to wait at least a couple of days :)  )


If you made it all the way down to here, I thank you

I hope you enjoyed my post and I do hope you try to make this yourself.

Enjoy your day!